John Beck and K9 Athena Demonstrate Cadaver Search Dog Techniques

UNL Forensic Science - John Beck

April 24, 2013

As part of the FORS 200 - Forensic Seminar guest lecture series, John Beck, cadaver detection dog trainer and handler, brought his K9 Athena to discuss using search dogs to find human remains.

Beck and Athena, an Australian Cattle Dog trained as a cadaver detection dog, demonstrated how she uses her olfactory senses to ascertain the location of human remains. Beck has trained her to use aggressive indications like barking and scratching to identify the location of human remains.

Beck indicated that Cadaver dogs, unlike many other detector dogs, are usually civilians and their handlers are volunteers. He uses real human remains to train his dogs and said it usually takes 5 days or less to train a dog with good drive.